Conference Inspires Sterling Students to Take Action
Vermont Campus Compact, a coalition of Vermont Colleges and Universities dedicated to providing service learning and civic engagement on their campuses, held its 8th annual conference in November. Six students represented Sterling College at the conference. The students listened to keynote speakers and attended workshops on topics such as Livable Wages and Economic Inequality, How to Build and Use a Bicycle Powered Generator, and Campus/Community Action Center: Explore Strategies for Putting Your Ideas into Action. It is no surprise that students returned to campus and took action.
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Matt Hawley ’09 of Jamestown, Missouri, and Jack Powell ’10 of Vershire, Vermont, brainstormed multiple ways for Sterling students to become more involved in issues affecting our world and presented them at the weekly Community Meeting. Matt’s inspiration was clear as he welcomed his peers to take action, “You don’t necessarily have to start something new, just get involved.”
- One goal is to revitalize Campus Ecology—an existing club dedicated to minimizing the College’s carbon footprint through education and awareness. Already Jack and other students made a commitment to the community to continue monitoring the amount of electricity used by residence halls and other campus buildings—a project started during the 2005-2006 academic year. “It will be interesting to chart the changes in energy use over many years and be able to identify any patterns in usage,” explains Ned Houston, Coordinator of Campus Sustainability.
- Matt intends to strengthen the recently formed student/community group focusing on current events. Inspired by the looming energy crisis, students and community members held a meeting to view and discuss the film, The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil earlier this semester. More recently, a local Craftsbury resident invited Sterling students to his home to watch the Democratic Primary Debates. Future topics for discussion include foreign policy and social, environmental, and economic sustainability.
- Matt and Jack also came up with their own brainchild: The Sterling College Action Board or SCAB: Because the world needs healing. While still in its infant stages, SCAB seeks to promote involvement in issues affecting our communities through awareness, service, and civic engagement. Matt further explains SCAB’s purpose to, “Get a dialogue going about our future as a generation and to bring awareness to social and environmental issues that we face.”
- Upcoming goals of the group are to establish a social justice movie night; identify other venues and resources in nearby communities to help students get involved in and support worthwhile events; and encourage the Student Activities Committee to support creativity in moving toward sustainability to meet the interests and needs of students, and as a result lessen overall consumerism.
The Vermont Campus Compact conference sparked a web of ideas that have quickly manifested around campus. Both Matt and Jack’s renewed sense of commitment toward increasing activities of existing and new campus groups is providing others with the inspiration to take action.
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